Which is Better, Ubuntu or Fedora?

Fedora vs. Ubuntu: Is Either Better?

February 3, 2010

By
Bruce Byfield

Fedora or Ubuntu? That is a question that Linux users are asking with increasing frequency.

The question is not random -- the two distributions have consistently topped the downloads on Distrowatch for the last two years. Read Fedora and Ubuntu mail forums, and users who despair of one are constantly announcing their intention to try the other. Although other distributions, including Linux Mint, openSUSE, and Mandriva, offer comparable features, for better or worse Fedora and Ubuntu are widely viewed as the desktop distributions of choice.

Unsurprisingly, you can find dozens of comparisons of the two on the Internet. However, except for one posted on PolishLinux.org, few answers are detailed enough to be of much use. And since the one on PolishLinux.org was made in 2006, it�s at least six versions behind the current releases (Fedora 12 and Ubuntu 9.10). So a new extended answer seems overdue.

The only trouble is, providing a definitive answer to the question is not as easy as it used to be -- a discovery that, if nothing else, suggests the current state of desktop Linux.

Backgrounds, goals, and community

Fedora, formerly known as Fedora Core, is sponsored mainly by Red Hat. In fact, many of those who work full-time on Fedora are Red Hat employees, and the Fedora Leader and four of the eight members of the board of directors are appointed by Red Hat.

This connection has caused some critics to dismiss Fedora as a beta version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Yet while it is true that releases of Red Hat Enterprise Linux are snapshots of Fedora, the truth is that Fedora largely manages its own affairs.

Similarly, Ubuntu is the community arm of Canonical Software. Both were founded by Mark Shuttleworth, who jokingly refers to himself as Self-Appointed Benevolent Dictator for Life. General direction tends to be decided by the Technical Board...